Tennessee football’s win vs. Florida a mixture of relief and joy

Have you ever felt cursed and then one day overcome that curse? When it happened, did it happen in a way that, even though you should’ve overcome it easily, you had to sweat it out, further proving the curse exist? That’s the state Tennessee football was in on Saturday.

The Vols’ history of being cursed vs. the Florida Gators is well-documented. It was one thing in the late 2000s, when Florida was the better program. However, since Urban Meyer retired, there have been years in which the Vols were close to Florida and still lost.

After losing 16 of 17 and five straight, nothing was safe. As a result, when Tennessee football led Florida 38-21 in the fourth quarter, Gary Danielson noted that nobody had left the stadium. They were right to not leave the stadium, and still, somehow, that game came down to the wire.

Issues in situational defense continued to plague the Vols, and they allowed Florida to score two late touchdowns as they tried to run out the clock. However, after Florida cut it to 38-33, the Gators made the play of the game by recovering an onside kick.

All of a sudden, the Vols, with less than a minute left, were in position to suffer their worst loss ever to Florida. They held on, though, and Anthony Richardson threw an interception as time expired thanks to a well drawn-up blitz by Tim Banks.

At that point, it was relief and celebration. Tennessee football exorcised its demons against Florida, and more importantly, the Vols are 4-0 and 1-0 in SEC play with two wins against ranked Power Five teams. That’s a lot to be happy about.

However, it’s hard to get past the emotions of almost blowing the game the next day. Anthony Richardson has been awful all year, yet he somehow managed to throw it all over the field and look deadly accurate against UT. Florid converted 5-of-6 fourth downs and looked mostly awful offensively outside of those plays.

If you walk away from that game and know the history of this series, you have to think the Vols didn’t just beat Florida. They beat Florida and some divine power that follows football and works against them when they face the Gators.

What other explanation could there be? This is the same Florida program that beat the Vols off a Hail Mary in 2017 and by one point thanks to two-score fourth quarter comebacks in 2014 and 2015. All three of those wins were with quarterbacks who amounted to very little after playing the Vols the year they beat them.

All signs pointed to this happening again. So should Tennessee football be thrilled or relieved? How about both? They are heading into their bye week having survived their biggest curse and with a 4-0 record. A top 10 ranking in both polls is a huge deal.

Yes, the almost blown lead is frustrating, but a win is a win. Given the fact that it’s Heupel’s second year, Vol fans should celebrate where they are as a program. It’s been a disastrous ride the past 15 years, and even if it was a struggle, beating Florida is a big deal. Take it as such.